Govt to soon decide on toll road price

Govt to soon decide on toll road price

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is expected to announce the toll rate for the
Cipularang (Cikampek-Purwakarta-Padalarang) toll road, a shortcut
from Jakarta to Bandung, as early as this week, an official says.

"The Ministry of Public Works has received the recommendation
from an intra-ministry team, which will be submitted to the
minister. Hopefully, we will be able to announce the rate soon,"
director for infrastructure network Eduard P. Pauner was quoted
by Antara as saying on Monday.

The newswire quoted Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto
who said during the weekend he had received a recommendation for
the toll road price, which he was still studying. The team
proposed the Cipularang toll road be priced at Rp 355 (4 U.S.
cents) per kilometer, or Rp 29,000 for one trip from Jakarta to
Bandung, the report said.

The public works ministry in consultation with the Ministry of
Transportation will make the final decision on the toll fee.

While it is presently operational, part of the road is still
being repaired by state developer PT Adhi Karya and toll road
operator PT Jasa Marga and the public works ministry says the
road remains free for the trial period.

Completion of the Rp 1.6 trillion road was rushed so it would
be ready for the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in April.

With the new toll road, the trip from Bandung-Jakarta, which
is about 160 kilometers, can be made in as little as to two and
a-half hours, down from the normal time of about five hours.

The operation of the toll road has increased the numbers of
vehicles traveling to Bandung by almost 14,000 vehicles a day
from an average of 125,000.